Schema Markup: What Is It and How Can it Supercharge Your SEO

Schema Markup is one of the latest evolutions in SEO for small businesses.

Other digital marketing strategies like content marketingand website designdepend heavily on SEO and schema markup is one of the secret weapons you can start using to improve your SEO.

Let's dig into schema markup a little deeper...

What is Schema Markup?

Schema markup is code (or vocabulary) used to create structured data you can incorporate into websites to yield more informative, descriptive and intelligent results on search engines like Google and Bing.

Don't let this definition scare you, the bottom line is schema helps search engines identify more information about your content and display better information in search results...it can help your content stand out from other content that shows up on the search results page.

Types of Items Described by Schema Markup

Schema markup can be applied to a number of different items. Here are a few areas you can apply schema markup.

Schema Markup vs. Rich Snippets

Is schema different from rich snippets? What is the relation between the two?

A snippet is a result Google shows to users in the search results. There are two types - normal and rich.

A normal snippet only shows simple information about a page like the URL and the description. It looks like this:

Meanwhile, a rich snippet is more informative. It shows additional information between the URL and the description like pictures and ratings. This is what a rich snippet looks like:

Rich snippets are the result of the information you provide in your schema. In the example above, the schema markup provided the image and rating information that is being displayed in the rich snippet.

Make sense?

So what are the benefits of schema? How can SEO for small businesses improve by using it?

Structured Data Helper is used when you are creating schema markup for another person or website. It lets you tag elements of your web page so that Google can generate the appropriate code. You can then download the HTML and upload it to your website.

Data Highlighter is Google's near-identical tool available in Google Search Console. If you have access to a website’s Search Console profile, then this tool is the way to go.

This tool is great for generating schema markup for all types of small businesses. Use the left sidebar to select your business category, then fill in the fields to the right to output accurate markup in the JSON-LD format.

Generate JSON-LD code with this tool for the following schema markup applications:

Local business

Person

Product

Event

Organization

Website

And that's how schema markup works and how it can boost SEO for small businesses. You can go DIY or consider hiring an expert to schema markup for you. Remember to ask the right questions before you hire an expert.

If you'd like some other schema markup resources, check out the following great articles:

Tim Fitzpatrick is the President of Rialto Mobile Marketing. At Rialto Mobile Marketing we help take the guesswork out of marketing for small businesses and make it simple. We're the bridge between where you are and where you want to be.

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